Most service business owners spend 10–20 hours a week on admin — follow-ups, scheduling, invoicing, project tracking, chasing payments. At $75/hour, that is $39,000–$78,000 a year. This calculator shows you the real number for your business.
Follow-ups, scheduling, invoicing, project updates, client emails
What you bill clients, or what your time is worth to the business
The hours do not show up on a timesheet. They happen at 7pm after a full day on-site. They happen in the truck between jobs. They happen Sunday morning when you realize a follow-up slipped. Most owners estimate 5 hours — then track themselves for a week and find 14. Use the higher end of what feels honest.
It measures the real annual cost of admin work in your service business — including your own time, any staff time spent on admin tasks, and any dedicated admin salaries. Most owners are surprised by the number because they never count their own hours as a cost.
The calculator measures the hidden cost of admin work your team is already doing — including your own time. If you have a dedicated admin employee, their salary is the floor, not the ceiling. Add the owner's time on top and the real number is usually 20-40% higher than the payroll line alone.
Software reduces friction but does not eliminate the hours. Scheduling tools still require someone to update them. Project trackers still require someone to enter data. This calculator measures labor time, not tool cost.
For service businesses billing $20,000 to $200,000 per project, the owner's effective rate is usually $100 to $200 per hour. $75 is conservative. If anything, the calculator understates the cost.
TIM is a business companion that handles the administrative work of a service company — follow-ups, quoting, project tracking, payment requests, and client communication — so the owner can focus on the work that generates revenue. TIM costs $18 per month. The admin work it handles would otherwise cost $4,000 or more per month in labor.
TIM handles the admin. You run the business.